


Time After Time

by asofthesea



Series: Alphabet Prompts [1]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Married Couple, One Shot, Post-Canon, Rituals, because i dont like unhappy endings you can quote me on that, i guess, thats where i got the title, time after time by cyndi lauper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23644129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthesea/pseuds/asofthesea
Summary: Josie had wanted to spend some time with her sister and parents, but the doctors had assured her that going about her regular routine would help to bring back her memories. Apparently, her regular Saturday was spent with Penelope Park, her wife.They had been married for two years, now that Josie was twenty-five. It was weird, the last time she saw Penelope was when she was leaving for Belgium, breaking Josie’s heart. She never thought that she would see her again, so she had been trying to move on with Landon. Now, to learn that she was married to the girl she hadn’t been able to get over was a little overwhelming. At least she wasn’t with someone she didn’t know at all. As weird as this was, she still trusted Penelope.A: Amnesia
Relationships: Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Series: Alphabet Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702177
Comments: 8
Kudos: 143





	Time After Time

“So, this is our house?” Josie asks.

Penelope nods as she ushers Josie inside.

Josie had wanted to spend some time with her sister and parents, but the doctors had assured her that going about her regular routine would help to bring back her memories. Apparently, her regular Saturday was spent with Penelope Park, her wife.

They had been married for two years, now that Josie was twenty-five. It was weird, the last time she saw Penelope was when she was leaving for Belgium, breaking Josie’s heart. She never thought that she would see her again, so she had been trying to move on with Landon. Now, to learn that she was married to the girl she hadn’t been able to get over was a little overwhelming. At least she wasn’t with someone she didn’t know at all. As weird as this was, she still trusted Penelope.

“Who proposed?” Josie asks. This is what they spent the whole car ride up here doing, trying to bring back Josie’s memory however they could.

Penelope smiles, “I did, although you were planning on doing so a week later. I took you out to a picnic by the falls, nice a secluded place. It was really romantic, with the sun setting as we ate.”

“Okay,” Josie says. She doesn’t know what else she’s supposed to say. Josie supposes that it probably was very romantic and is a fond memory of hers, but she feels nothing with Penelope’s words.

Josie wanted to ask about the accident that led to her losing her memories, but she knew it was a sore subject for Penelope. Instead, she wanders around looking at the photos around their house, ones she doesn’t remember taking. She recognizes mostly everybody in the photos, with a few exceptions. Every time she sees a new person, she asks Penelope who they are, and she always answers patiently, a friend from college, a coworker, a neighbor, or whoever else she sees, then they move onto the next photo.

Eventually, Josie comes across a photo that was obviously taken on their wedding day. They both look so happy. Josie had never thought that she’d get this life, that she would be this happy, and now she can’t even remember some of the most important days of her life.

“Do we want kids?” Josie asks. She had never been sure. Of course she wanted to be a mother, but she didn’t want to bring kids into the supernatural world and endanger them.

Penelope looks away and wipes at her eyes quickly, “Yeah, actually we were planning on moving away from Mystic Falls soon and adopting. We were looking into some agencies in Ohio, of all places. Our families don’t know yet, but we were going to tell them about our decision to move and have kids this Friday. However, I think we’re going to have to postpone that,” Penelope admits.

Josie nods, “We were going to move away so that they wouldn’t get caught up in all the supernatural Mystic Falls drama, right?”

“Yeah, they would visit every once and a while to see your family here, but we didn’t want to bring kids into this. We said we would tell them when they were older, if we were going to tell them at all.”

Josie looks into Penelope’s eyes. Even when they were dating, Penelope was never this vulnerable. She was always in control of her emotions, only letting Josie see what she wanted her to see. Josie hated that Penelope hadn’t felt safe enough to fully let her guard down with her, but she understood. They all had damage, but Josie wonders how much she has to relearn about Penelope.

Even after Penelope had left for Belgium, Josie had wanted a life with her. She tried to distract herself with Landon, thinking that she needed someone new to truly help her get over Penelope. He did provide a good distraction at times, but her feelings never went away.

“Why did you come back?” Josie asks, hugging the picture to her chest, as if to reassure her that Penelope won’t hurt her again like she did before. Penelope loves her, she had told her when she woke up, more than anything. She was her wife, she didn’t want to hurt her again.

“Come back?” Penelope asks, confused by the sudden turn of the conversation.

“From Belgium,” Josie clarifies, “Why did you come back from Belgium?”

Penelope takes a deep breath, running a hand through her hair, “I didn’t,” she admits, “I finished school in Belgium. When I was nineteen I learned that your mom had found a way to stop the Merge. Caroline approached me because they needed a witch from my coven to make a sacrifice.”

“A sacrifice? Like what?” Josie asks, even though Penelope is standing here, in front of her, just fine, she can’t help but worry.

“In order to perform the ritual to undo the Gemini curse, a single witch from my coven had to perform the spell, since a single witch from my coven created the curse long ago. Of course I was willing to do anything to save your life, but it came at a price.”

Josie isn’t sure she wants to know the answer, but she asks anyway, “What was the price?”

“My magic.”

_“No! Penelope this is absolutely insane! I am not participating in this stupid spell. There is another way, we are going to find it,” Josie argues._

_Penelope sighs, “Jojo, if there was another way, don’t you think we would have found it by now? Your parents have been searching since you two were practically born. There’s no other way.”_

_“You aren’t thinking this through.”_

_Penelope scoffs, “I have thought this through. Your mom came to me with this plan a month ago. I have had a month of contemplating, and I know this is what I want. There will be no second-guessing my decision.”_

_Josie stops her verbal assault for a moment, not expecting that response from Penelope. Josie’s voice softens when she says, “I just don’t want you to hate me because I’m the reason you lose your magic. This spell is going to take everything that you have.”_

_Penelope shakes her head, “This spell isn’t going to take everything I have, it’s going to give my everything I’ve ever wanted since you gave me that cheesy tour on my first day at the Salvatore School. What I want is a chance with you, Josie. We’ll get that chance if we know you are going to make it past twenty-two.”_

_“You’re sure?” Josie asks, “You really want to do this? There’s no guarantee that we’ll even work.”_

_“There isn’t,” Penlepe responds, taking a step closer, “but we do know that this will save both you and Lizzie. That is something itself I would give my magic up for, even if we don’t end up together.”_

_Josie smiles as she closes the distance between, their foreheads touching, lips but a few centimeters apart, “I love you, Penelope.”_

_“I love you, too, Josie.”_

Josie comes to on the couch, “How did I get here?”

Penelope, right by her side, says, “You were zoning out, so I moved you here in case you fell or something. Did you remember something?”

She can hear the hope in her wife’s voice.

Josie nods, “I did. I remembered when I found out about the spell you were going to do to stop the Merge. We fought, but for the first time in a while, I felt hopeful. That Lizzie and I would get to live the lives we wanted, and that I would get a second chance with you.”

Penelope smiles as she remembers the memory Josie is referring to, “That was the first time we had seen each other since I had left. You were so angry and thought I was making the wrong decision, but I would do it all over again given the same choice.”

Josie hesitates before she asks, “Why do you think I only got the one memory back? I thought they would all come rushing back to me at once.”

“The doctor said that the memories would come with time. We’ll just be patient. Until then, we can make new memories of our own,” Penelope says, taking Josie’s hand in her own.

Josie smiles as she squeezes Penelope’s hand, “I’d like that.”

“I love you, Jojo.”

“I love you, too, Penelope.” Time after time, some things always remained the same.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a one shot, so there won't be more, but i am doing an alphabet series of unrelated prompts, so stay tuned for more! thank you for reading, let me know what you think!


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